20 Best Video Game Opening Levels Of The Last 10 Years

15. Crew Expendable - Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare

If you were the right age at the right time, you'll remember just what playing COD 4 for the first time felt like. Because it wasn't just another shooter, it wasn't the annualised slump of "Urgh, another Call of Duty" that it is today.

No, the first Modern Warfare was a cultural touchstone in every possible way, releasing at a time when we'd already had teases of filmic presentation in action games (Medal of Honor Frontline/Rising Sun, the Uncharted series), yet Infinity Ward took everything one step further.

Suddenly you had Half Life-style narrative meshing perfectly with responsive controls, a Hollywood-level script, set-pieces that had just the right amount of "Did I do that, or did that just happen?!" agency. Yes, the very first 'level' is the tutorial, but it's literally and thematically intended as a segue into Crew Expendable; the mission that's a super-slick nighttime infiltration, topped off with an all-hell-breaks-loose sprint to catch an exfiltration helicopter at the last second.

Maybe you had to be there for it to really resonate, but the very reason Call of Duty is still one of the world's biggest entertainment properties comes down to how truly exemplary these opening moments were.